Behold, the Bridegroom comes at midnight, And blessed is that servant whom He shall find awake, But unworthy is the servant whom He shall find heedless. Beware, therefore, O my soul, do not be weighed down with sleep, Lest you be given up to death, and lest you be shut out of the Kingdom. But rouse yourself crying: Holy, Holy, Holy, art Thou, O our God, Through the Theotokos have mercy on us.
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I wrote the following paragraph one year ago. Tragically, it is just as relevant today, because nothing has changed since last year – except there are far more refugees, far more destruction.
Ukraine
Have Ukraine’s Orthodox brothers and sisters in Russia given them a break for Holy Week? No, they have not. Their missile strikes and and shelling have in fact increased. Have they allowed time this Week for innocent Ukrainian civilians to escape the horrors of war? No, they have not.
Of all the aspects of this evil and completely needless war, I think this is the most immoral, most wicked, most contrary to the teachings of our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ. If this is not condemned by the entire Orthodox world, then there is something terribly wrong with Orthodoxy. What does it mean to be united in faith and worship, if we are not united above all in love?
Please pray.
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Gospel: Matthew 24:36-51; 25:1-46; 26:1-2
2 Then the parable of the talents. Talents were money: I read in the Orthodox Study Bible that a gold talent was worth about $6 million, a silver talent about $400,000. The point is that God has given each of us a fortune in gifts, capabilities, resources of many kinds in varying amounts. He wants His own back with interest, expects each of us to develop what He gave us. So are we growing in the Faith? in the gifts of the Spirit: love, patience, joy, gentleness, kindness, peace, self control? Are you developing whatever talents God has given you – music or teaching or sympathetic listening or management, or service to the poor or mathematics or chanting…..a multitude of possibilities, even ordination if He calls you to it. Or are you like the last man in the parable, just holding your own? Or, God forbid, are you wasting what He gave you? What? you think God gave us gifts so we can just sit on them? If we do not produce, we will be cast into the outer darkness, away from the Light, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth at what we could have had and now will never have, because time is over now. The moral: Use it or lose it.
3 Finally, the famous and distressing parable of the sheep and the goats.
We heard this also on the Second Sunday before Lent. The Church must think it especially important for us to hear.
Take note: this is the judgment of “the nations”, including the Gentiles, the nonbelievers.
The question that comes up so frequently among Christians: Can nonbelievers be saved? Jesus’ answer is No, but Yes.
No, because He said “I am the way, and the truth, and the life: No one comes to the Father except by Me.” John 14:8 There can be no salvation outside Christ, for only in God is salvation, and Christ is God. Salvation means to be united with Christ our God.
But Yes, because at the End there will no longer be any unbelievers! All will see Christ for who He is. So Yes, those who once were nonbelievers will then believe, and can enter the Kingdom. Jesus Christ said so. However nobody will slide in just because they believed. I visited a man in the county jail once, who had done many bad things, including running off with an underage girl from our parish. It didn’t bother him a bit, because “I believe in Jesus Christ, so I’m saved.” Wrong! There will be requirements of behavior for all of us.
ConnectUS
The standard of judgment will be this: Did we show love, mercy, compassion for the least of His brethren? To all who did, Christ will say, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world.” It will turn out that many had been serving Christ, even though they did not yet know it. This is not ours to judge, but God’s alone. We must never put a limit on the mystery of how God works on earth – to His love, His mercy.
However, this raises another question: How many believers will be saved. if any (even if they went by the name of Christian) ignored the needs of people, or far worse if they mistreated them, caused them pain and suffering and hunger and thirst and homelessness, it will be: “Depart from me, you evildoers, into the fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” The truth will be that they never were believers. If they had truly believed in Jesus Christ, they would not have acted like that.
So here is the key: Correct doctrine is essential. But correct Christian doctrine tells us that love is even more important than doctrine. “The greatest of these is love.”
You and I, mortals that we are, are forbidden to judge persons. Only God can do that. However, we must judge actions. Otherwise every child-abuser and murderer would go free. And every war criminal.
But take care: The war in Ukraine is something you and I can’t do much abou directly. However, how many other needy people, Christ’s brothers and sisters, are here in the United States? in our cities? on our borders? or next door to us? or in our churches? in our homes? – remembering that there are not only physical needs but spiritual needs as well, people who are lonely, people who need Jesus Christ and His love, and our love.
God’s judgment will apply not only to those who are causing suffering in Ukraine, but to those who are ignoring suffering elsewhere.
Jesus finished His teachings. He said to His disciples: Now be ready. “I have told you. After two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.”
Next Post will arrive tomorrow for Tuesday night Bridegroom Matins.